


Like Lightning in a Bottle (Can’t Let You Go Now that I Got It)

by fiveyaaas



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (gasp) to lovers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, But they don’t know by the first part, Daddy Kink, EXCEPT FOR ONE SCENE, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Five is Vanya’s professor, Older Man/Younger Woman, One Night Stands, Panty Kink, Strangers to Lovers, Sugar Daddy, Teacher-Student Relationship, at this point what else would it be, but idk where I’m going with this thing, i’ve accepted this is just a thing in my fics now, kind of, later in the fic, there is plot....... but it is a heavily recycled one, there might be mentions of the other chars, vanya...... is a mess in this, y’all know the trope don’t @ me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:47:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26131390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveyaaas/pseuds/fiveyaaas
Summary: She’s alone at the bar, trying to ease her nerves. She was a TA for her music theory class, so she knew she was not dull. It was more that she had never excelled at any math or science classes in her life, and she was required to take a physics class and a biology class to get her bachelor’s. If she had gone to a conservatory, this wouldn’t have been an issue. She couldn’t have afforded it though. The college she was at only happened because she got lucky, the dean choosing her himself for this scholarship.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 30
Kudos: 143





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [foive (arcticnewt)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcticnewt/gifts).



> This fic happened after a long discussion on discord. It’s gross and I almost feel like I made Vanya more feral than Five in it, so 👀 do with that what you will. I don’t know how many chapters this’ll be, so uh, who knows where this goes. There is SOME plot in this, but not for this chapter lmao. I’m sorry I’m gross 😔

Turning the empty glass of ice that had been a mojito over and over between her fingers, Vanya bites the straw for something to do. She’s alone at the bar, trying to ease her nerves. She was a TA for her music theory class, so she  _ knew  _ she was not dull. It was more that she had never excelled at any math or science classes in her life, and she was required to take a physics class and a biology class to get her bachelor’s. If she had gone to a conservatory, this wouldn’t have been an issue. She couldn’t have afforded it though. The college she was at only happened because she got lucky, the dean choosing her himself for this scholarship. 

At any second this semester, if her grade dropped in physics, it would be gone. It was her last night before classes started, and she was spending it on a mojito. She could only have one, though, because she was not going to pluck down two separate payments of four dollars for lady’s night when she could be depressed just as easily with one drink as multiple. As it was, she was just barely even what she would call tipsy. 

“You want another drink?” 

She turned around, staring at the guy who had spoken behind her. She estimated he was in his late thirties or early forties. Vanya had started college later, so he was probably only ten or fifteen years older than her. 

“Is that what  _ you  _ want?” She asked, still chewing on the straw. 

He smirked, smugness radiating off of him in waves. 

Vanya rolled her eyes, but she was intrigued to see if she could get a meal out of this. Eating a shady brand of instant ramen every night when one is twenty seven can be mildly depressing and would likely cause her to have ulcers. “I don’t want another drink, no.”

“Is there something you _would_ like?” He asked, raising his brow and lifting his glass to indicate for the bartender to get him another as he sat down. 

“Do they have good food here?” Vanya asked, setting the straw down back to her glass. 

He laughed. “I don’t know, do you want to find out?”

She nodded eagerly, and the amusement rose in his eyes. She was already imagining all the possibilities of food outside of beef ramen. She didn’t mind the taste of it, but she was  _ poor  _ and she could get food for a month with about twenty bucks in change and crumpled one dollar bills that she spilled out on the grocery store counter like it was a sacrificial offering for a very minor, very shitty demon that was desperate to be summoned. 

The man didn’t seem to mind at all paying for her to eat, but he did keep a steady conversation with her as he did. 

“What brought you here tonight?” He asks suddenly as she plows through a salad, savoring the taste of vegetables- truly ambrosia of the gods when one knows only the bloated feeling of sodium sin noodles coagulating inside of one’s stomach. 

“Depression,” Vanya said brusquely. She wondered if it was rude to have someone pay for a meal for you and then have them go away. She figured if he expected any sex, she could give him a half-hearted hand job. Forty year old men loved half-hearted hand jobs, she has learned, from giving forty year old men half-hearted hand jobs when the light bill eclipsed the food bill. 

The guy laughed, thinking Vanya was joking about depression causing her to go to cheap mojito ladies’ night. “Why are you upset, doll?”

Vanya actually admired the use of the pet name. Brazen, sure, but her daddy issues preened at the usage. 

“Tomorrow will be rough,” Vanya said solemnly, testing out placing her hand on his knee. He didn’t even comment on it, just wordlessly prompting her to continue. “I am stressed about a class.”

“You teach?” He asked, finishing off his glass of bourbon and setting it down against the bar. He settled his hand against where hers had crawled up midthigh, either to stop her from rubbing his dick in public (which she was pretty sure was not the case) or to keep her hand against him. “What grade?”

“No, I’m a student,” Vanya explained. “I took years off until I finally was able to snag a full ride scholarship last year.”

“Oh,” he nodded. “I apologize for making that assumption. I will say from experience that it’s the older students that tend to do best.”

“You just get your degree?” She asked, moving her hand up more. It definitely said a lot about her that being called “doll” made her immediately search for more approval and affection, but she didn’t think analyzing that would give her an orgasm, anyways. 

“No,” he laughed. “I got my doctorate, oh, ten years ago? The years are blurring, I guess. I’m starting to get too old.”

“Too old to take a girl home from a bar?” Vanya suggested. 

He blinked. “No, I wouldn’t say so.”

Vanya beamed, rubbing circles on his thigh. “I gotta finish this food, though, I’m hungry.”

“Fair enough.”

Vanya kept rubbing his thigh as she ate the best meal she’d had in the past month, brushing up just enough to feel the tenting of his trousers every few minutes. He didn’t even seem to be affected by his facial expressions, but she knew he was very much affected regardless. He snuck glances her way, probably salivating for a lackluster handjob the way she was salivating for the grilled chicken and asparagus she shoved into her mouth without much concern for if he was grossed out. She felt his dick twitch when she whined at the first taste of grilled chicken, so it was safe to say he didn’t mind at all. Vanya idly wondered if he would take her up on an offer to be his sugar baby. A man with a kink for watching women eat was a good man to keep around, and she could definitely see herself calling him Daddy. _Oh, look at her_ , getting sentimental already. 

“What’s your name?” Vanya realized she didn’t know. It probably was bad form that she hadn’t asked up to that point. 

“Five,” he said, and she brushed his tented pants again as she told him her own name. 

“Pretty name,” he gritted out, and she preened at the fact that he was now starting to struggle to maintain nonchalance in his expression. 

“Hopefully not so pretty that you’d stop using pet names,” Vanya said. 

“Of course, not, sweetheart.” Oh, forty year old men really would do anything for one unforgettable night of dry humping in a public bathroom. If she thought of his cum staining his pants and leaving a wet little spot on him though, she might fall in love, and that was a dangerous tightrope she shouldn’t walk but will probably end up rollerblading across to prove that she could.

Vanya wished suddenly that she was wearing a skirt. Maybe she could wear one to class tomorrow, be ready to go to the bar right after and hope that he is waiting for her, preferably with the french dip sandwich she had contemplated getting waiting beside him. Yes, she would wear a skirt tomorrow. It was a four o’clock class, so she’d get out around the time people without major depressive disorder would flock to the bar. The people with major depressive disorder would just be kicked out by that point from over intoxication, so really it was ideal timing for him to slide his hand up her skirt, sink two fingers down to the knuckle, and get her back for her teasing. She could put on some lipstick and drink beer so that he’d see her mouth closing around something a little more phallic than the ladies’ night four dollar mojitos glasses were. Her lipstick would come off against the glass, and she’d brush the beer dribbling down her chin off her face. 

“I want to get out of here,” she announced.

He arched a brow at her, and she decided to test his likability and asked him with an exaggerated “please.” She’d have to ease him into the Daddy kink, men could be so fickle about that sometimes.  _ ‘I just think it’s weird when I’m old enough to be your dad for you to call me that,’  _ they’d say. She felt the need to clarify that her _actual_ father was enough to dry her up more than the Sahara. The family in  _ Grapes of Wrath _ would have to move to California for how dry her pussy got. There would be a fire marshal's directives to not allow bonfires for how dry her pussy got. Ben Shapiro would mistake her for his _wife_ for how dry her pussy got. 

Okay, dear reader, you probably get the point now. Vanya doesn’t have an Oedipus Complex, so don’t page Doctor Daddy Freud. 

“Take me out of here,” she repeated, brushing her lips to his jaw and landing just on the corner of his lips. If he wasn’t sitting down, she wouldn’t have been able to do it. He was  _ tall _ and, fuck, if she didn’t want to see him standing above her, having to tip her chin up to look at him and seeing if he would melt at the sight of her big brown eyes as she asked him if she was his good girl. Fucking her with his fingers when she gave  _ herself  _ praise, saying that he wanted his good girl to be confident in her like Daddy was. 

She really was a romantic at heart, wasn’t she?

He moved his head so that her lips weren’t touching the corner of his mouth, so that their lips were pressed together but they weren’t kissing. They weren’t moving their lips at all, just sharing each other’s breaths. She wanted him to kiss her, to feel his tongue in her throat while he fucked her. 

“Do you want to go to my place, angel?” He said, the oddly sweet smell of the bourbon fanning across her face. His five o’clock shadow scratched her, just a teasing sensation, but she wanted to feel the scratch of it against her thighs, feel the roughness of the sensation against her-

“Please, Daddy,” she breathed out, and he was as nonchalant about it as he had been about her stroking him through his pants for the past hour. God, maybe this man might be her soulmate. Or whatever the kink equivalent to that was. Surely, soulmates would have the same fetishes, right? 

He slung an arm around her waist, paying the bill before he guided her out of the bar. He had what looked like an atrociously expensive car, and he opened the passenger door for her. She was glad that she hadn’t worn the skirt actually. Having her soak the seats of the interior would probably be awful for whoever detailed it. She looked at his knuckles as they went around the steering wheel, wondering how they’d feel when they brushed over cunt. He had large hands, they could cup her so easily, make her feel safe and  _ small. _

She watched him drive, watching the road carefully. He kept his left hand on the wheel, but he held out his right for her to hold. She ran her finger over the skin, touching his knuckles and the blue-green veins that were raised up slightly. On an impulse she couldn’t explain, she kissed the back of his hand, and he stopped looking at the road just a second to look at her and offer her a much softer smile than the smirk he had given her at the bar. Before she could return it, his eyes were back on the road, but he laced their fingers together. 

He lived in a spacious apartment, one in a rather affluent part of the town, and the furnishing was very modern. She would have estimated that he just had someone buy the most pretentious set up he could find if it weren’t for all the numbers covering the walls. 

“I assumed you were an MD,” she commented, seeing that he was probably some sort of mathematician or physicist. 

Wait. If this worked out, he could help her possibly! Oh, that would be perfect. When he had smiled at her in the car, she got the idea that there was a soft side to him. Maybe she could use him helping her with her work as an excuse to stay the night, and she could cuddle up into his arms and they could drink coffee in the morning. This could actually be something more than a one-night stand, if she was lucky.

“I’m a theoretical physicist,” he told her, and she grinned. Jackpot!

“That’s great,” she said. “Although, doctors are kinda hot.” 

“I’m still a doctor,” he told her, moving forward to kiss her again, pulling her hair just a little as he did. 

“You just want me to call you hot,” Vanya giggled. 

“Possibly.” 

She slipped her blazer off her shoulders, and he followed her lead and took off his own jacket. She unbuttoned his shirt with one hand, rubbing him through his pants with the other. His breathing got a little more erratic, and she felt bad that she had teased him so long, so she slipped her hand inside of the pants to give him a gentle squeeze. He tried to thrust into her hand, but he stopped once she moved away to discard her shirt to the floor. She wasn’t wearing a bra because depression drinking Vanya didn’t believe in bras, so when the slightly chilly air in his apartment hit her already raised nipples, she hissed at the sensation. 

She grabbed his hand, encouraging him to cup her tits, so she wouldn’t be cold any longer. He followed her request without complaint, and she popped off the button of his pants, fiddled with the stubborn zipper, slid down his boxers, and clutched his cock as it sprang free. She ran her finger over the tip, dripping out pre-cum already. 

“I wanna suck you off, Daddy,” she said, just to see his cock when it twitched. He made a choked noise, and she kissed him quickly before sinking to her knees before him. The hardwood floors were going to cause the bruises to show against the skirt she was definitely going to be wearing tomorrow after she convinced him to be at the bar at a time forty five minutes after her class was over, and she wondered if his gaze would look possessive as he saw those bruises. She thought of that with glee as she closed her mouth around his dick, taking him in half-way. 

_ “Vanya,” _ he groaned. “You’re such a good girl.”

She licked the pre-cum off the tip, staring up at him and prompting him to continue. She wanted him to refer to himself as Daddy, wanted him to go along with it. She widened her eyes just a bit, letting them look pleading as she ran her tongue over the tip and stared up at him. 

As if he could read her thoughts, he blurted, “Such a good girl for her Daddy.” 

Oh, thank the  _ Lord.  _ She had run out of dry comparisons from her last internal monologue on her vagina; thank the Lord he was a freak too, or she’d have to actually be _creative._

Vanya decided to thank him for being a disgusting horny weirdo by swallowing him down until the tip was scraping against her throat. If she went any further, she’d trigger her gag reflex, so she didn’t dare. 

“You like having your mouth filled with Daddy’s cock?” He grunted. “Does my little angel like that?”

She pulled back, glad for the excuse because she was pretty certain she might trigger the gag reflex anyways from where she was. A trail of slobber followed as she pulled her mouth off him, looking up at him with a triumphant beam. “Yes, Daddy.” 

“Such a good girl,” he crooned, petting her hair. “ _ My _ good girl.” 

She opened her mouth again, running her thumb against him and staring up at him. She kissed the tip of his dick, a more perverted impulse than what had led her to kissing his hand but followed by the same level of compulsion. The softness in his eyes when he looked down at her stayed the same, so she swallowed him again so he would keep calling her a good girl. 

The thing about having nearly edged him for an hour was that it didn’t take much to get him worked up, for him to stutter out and beg her to  _ keep going  _ in a trembling voice, for him to try to pull away before he came in her mouth but her looking up at him as she took in what spilled out of him with a smile. 

He was still panting as she stood up, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling into his chest. “Did I do good?” she asked into his shoulder. 

“Yes. God, Vanya,  _ yes _ . You did so well,” he said kissing the top of her head gently. 

He lifted her up, setting her on what she realized was his kitchen counter, hooking his fingers into her jeans and pushing them down and onto the floor. His fingers were gentle as he eased her shoes off her feet, and she saw his eyes hone in on the damp patch on her light blue cotton panties. He ran his finger over it, and she whimpered, sensitive to his touch. 

“You’re going to give me such a feast when I taste you,” he cooed, running his knuckles over the fabric. “Going to taste so good for me, aren’t you?”

She nodded eagerly, and he leaned down to kiss her forehead, still keeping his hands trailing across the fabric. She could feel more cum pooling from her with his attention, wondering if he was enough of a weirdo if she offered to leave her underwear there as a memento of the night if it wouldn’t bother him. A thought came into her mind of him keeping the underwear, smelling it as he gripped his cock in his hand, imagining her calling him Daddy.

“You’re  _ dripping _ , sweetheart,” he growled. “You really get so worked up just from sucking me off?”

Vanya couldn’t help but blurt out what she had been thinking of seconds ago, and he raised his eyebrows at her. For a second, she was worried she had said too much, and then he spoke again. “If I’m going to get to keep these, then I need to make sure they get a little more damp, sweetheart. When I fuck you, I’ll just push them to the side, make sure I gather all of what you offer. Make sure my cum is mixed with yours so that I’m reminded that you were mine, even if only for a night.”

“I want it to be more,” she whimpered, wounded, as he dipped his pointer down to the knuckle inside of her. “Please let it be more.”

He kissed her then. “I’m not going to deny you of that, precious. Especially when I would be  _ pleased _ to spend more nights with you. As many as you asked of me. To get your tight little cunt around my fingers like this every night? To suck my fingers clean of all my angel offered me? It would be my pleasure.” 

She blushed. He moved his finger more frantically, and she could  _ hear _ how wet she was. “Can I sleep here?” She breathed out, not really sure why she even said it, but she just wanted to end this night curled up in his arms, feeling safe and sated. 

He nodded, moving his finger to brush her clit. “I’ll have to leave early for work, but you’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

If she stayed as long as she wanted, she would certainly lose her scholarship because she’d be in his apartment long enough for her grades to tank. 

She didn’t say that, felt that that was intense on another level. Instead, she just ground her hips to his fingers, tits bouncing on her chest from the force of her movements. He watched them as he inserted another finger and had his thumb work her clit instead. She was sure his fingers had to be soaked at this point, and her suspicions were confirmed as he pulled his fingers out and spread her cum against her own nipple as he rolled it in his fingers. She wanted him to keep touching her though, and she made a wounded noise, asking him to keep touching her with a few  _ Daddys  _ sprinkled in for motivation. 

Five studied her as she begged him with his face still schooled into nonchalance. The idea of him denying her his touch made her want to cry, and when she had the thought, without warning, he laid his head down, caging it between her thighs and caging her between the kitchen counter and him. He sucked on her clit, reaching up with one hand to keep playing with her nipple and using the other to keep fingering her. 

He glanced up, hair going in wild directions that scattered the entirely professional and tidy look about him that she had noticed earlier. His chin was smeared with her cum, his hair was mussed up, and his cheeks were flushed. She was entirely certain she didn’t look much better, and she was also certain that her panties were probably entirely soaked now. “You've been so good for me, baby. I’m gonna make you feel so good.” 

Without saying anything more, he put his face in between her legs again, sticking his tongue inside of her, playing with the band of her panties pulling the elastic up a bit and releasing it so it hit her skin just as he bit down on her clit. She yelped, and he kept moving, kept bobbing his head up and down while she cried out praise. 

It was all suddenly too much, and she was crying from the overstimulation instead of crying out. Her orgasm hit her while tears trailed down her cheeks. He must have caught on she was overstimulated because he pulled off of her as soon as she clenched around his tongue. 

He kissed her, running his knuckles over her stomach soothingly. 

“Can I fill you up with my cock?” He asked, kissing her wet cheek. “I’ll take good care of you, angel, but if you want to wait, just tell me.” 

She wanted him inside of her very badly, so she told him, “Please fill me up, Daddy.” 

He lifted her up again, carrying her to his couch, kicking off his shoes and pants as he did. He placed her down, settling on top of her, and she sighed softly, resting against the pillows. 

“So beautiful,” he murmured, running his still wet thumb over her jaw. “You’re so beautiful.”

She sucked his thumb, and he made a small noise. Vanya grabbed him into her hand from where his erection was poking against her panties, guiding him to where the underwear had been pushed to the side for his access. When the tip of him rubbed against her, they both gasped. She encouraged him to keep going until he had bottomed out, and she felt perfectly full. 

“You feel so good,” he groaned. “So  _ wet  _ and slick around me. You’re so good, Vanya.”

“ _Five_.”

“So perfect,” he cooed, kissing her face all over. She dug her nails into his back, enough to draw blood, and he yelped, starting to fuck her. The harder she dug her nails in, the harder he pounded into her. The sounds of their bodies joining together filled the air along with their moans, and she closed her eyes and just took in the sensations. She was still wildly overstimulated, but he didn’t seem to mind to be doing all of the work. He moved at a quick, bruising pace, commenting about loving the way her tits bounced in between praising her nonsensically. 

Her next orgasm hit her quickly, and he kept fucking her through it. She was clenched pretty hard against him, but he kept fucking her. He moved his finger down until he found her clit, drawing out a third without much struggle. When she tightened around him though, he groaned out that he was going to cum and kept thrusting until she was filled up. Thank the Lord and Her wisdom in making sure she was on the pill even though she had to pay a little for it. They hadn’t even talked about wearing condoms, in retrospect.

“Want to lay down?” Five panted. She nodded, and he lifted her up easily, carrying her to what she assumed was his bedroom. The large bed was made in a Spartan-like precision, and he pulled the covers back to tuck her inside. 

“Wanna borrow a shirt?” He asked, peeling the panties from her body. “I’m gonna go grab a washcloth, but do you need anything else?”

“Could you get me a shirt?” she asked, and he nodded, pressing a kiss to her forehead and pulling open a drawer from his dresser, which she took note he placed the panties (somehow neatly folded in the seconds he walked to the dresser) in the drawer and retrieved a t-shirt that was large enough to reach her mid-thigh. He walked off, presumably to his bathroom, before brusquely returning to her side and cleaning her up. Once he had gotten her sufficiently cleaned, he rolled the shirt over her sensitive body. 

She was so tired out that she was already closing her eyes before she remembered. “Oh, I have a few things I have to do tomorrow, but can I meet up with you again? When you’re done with work?”

“Of course,” he said, yawning and pulling her to his chest. “I get off at nine, technically, but I could get out as quickly as… seven? Seven thirty?”

She nodded, “We’ll plan for seven thirty. Do you want to meet here or…?”

“My place would work, yeah,” he said. “I’ll pick up food on my way back. Oh, and, like I said, I’ll be at work early. So I’ll leave a key by the door, so you don’t have to wake up ridiculously early.” 

She nodded. “Five?”

“Yeah?” 

“I had a really nice time.” 

He smiled. “Go to sleep, sweetheart.” 

She obeyed. 

* * *

He was already gone by the time she awoke, as he had said he would be. She stretched, padding out of his bed sleepily. Her first class wouldn’t be for an hour or two, so she helped herself to the coffee he had left behind in the pot. 

She found her clothes abandoned across his living room, and she put the cardigan over his shirt and rolled on her jeans. She kept the shirt she had worn there, enjoying the domestic thought of wearing his clothes when she met up with him tonight. When she left his apartment, she was filled with a contentment that settled over her until she went to her apartment. 

As her classes ran all day, she had to be ready for tonight when she went to class. She found a skirt that she could easily tuck his shirt into, pairing a cardigan over it. She used a very light amount of makeup, not ever comfortable in her abilities to work with it, and kept her hair down but washed it and brushed it out. 

Satisfied, she went to her 12 o’clock class, another of the university’s requirements of a basic English comp. Her classes went by in a blur until the dreaded physics lecture happened. Luckily, there was no lab today, otherwise she would have to be there until about 9. 

The problem with having not taken her science or math credits yet was that she couldn’t find the STEM building no matter how hard she tried.

She was ten minutes late by the time she walked inside, and Dr. Hargreeves, she suspected at least given the fact that her schedule said that was his name, stopped scribbling chalk against his chalkboard. 

“As I was  _ just saying  _ about punctuality,” he called out, whirling around to glare at her. As he did, the chalk fell out of his grasp, irritated glare turning into a stunned gape. 

Her professor, Dr. Hargreeves, was Five. 

“Oh,  _ fuck _ ,” she blurted. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this taking so long to update!! I’d like to thank JjDoggieS, Chevalier_Barthelemy, and xxbunnykissesxx for beta reading for me and sending me support as I wrote 💕💕💕💕

The rest of the class watched on in confused silence as Five cleared his throat, multiple times. Vanya hurried to a seat, watching his eyes follow her movements, hoping he wasn’t going to kick her out of the class for not being  _ punctual.  _ Considering the fact that he’d offered to let her stay in his apartment for as long as she wanted, she truly hoped he was as generous as far as being a professor went. 

Apparently, he didn’t think it was worth lecturing her, probably able to realize that she’d absolutely say something bratty or call him ‘Daddy’ in front of at least fifty students, and he cleared his throat a final time, announcing, “It has become apparent to me that this class is already unprepared. You are all dismissed, come back next class  _ without _ being late and I will teach you then.”

Based on the fact that part of his grade included attendance, all of the students gave Vanya dirty looks when they left. She started to leave too, irritated that he would make his students suffer because of her. Because all of the other students were piling out the door, though, and she was already certain they hated her, she waited, standing. When the last person had walked out the door, he called out,  _ “Vanya.”  _

She whirled around, glaring. “What do you want, _ Dr. Hargreeves?”  _

He made a small noise, and she assumed it was a horny thing considering the fact that the terminology was working for her too. Then, she saw the ashamed way he was looking at her, like he didn’t know how to handle what was happening right now.

She sure as fuck didn’t. Tonight, she’d have to search for another teacher instead of spend time with him, and she was a little pissed off. Sure, Five couldn’t exactly help it, but she had to direct her anger  _ somewhere.  _ Especially when it was his fault that she liked him in the first place. 

“I’m going,” she said when he still hadn’t said anything. 

“Vanya, wait.” He ambled forward, and she raised her eyebrows expectantly, wanting to hear what he had to say but also not wanting to let him in on the fact that she did. “I’m sorry. That was unprofessional, having them leave. I just didn’t know what to do. You caught me off-guard.”

She rolled her eyes, “Yeah, well, you caught me off-guard too. Why didn’t you tell me you worked here?”

“How was I supposed to know that you were my  _ student,  _ Vanya?” 

“Well, you seem like a bit of a freak-”

He glanced around guiltily, “Vanya, it’s not… I don’t usually. Do all that with strangers.”

She frowned dubiously at him, having heard that one from men before. It was something that they said when they were married, or that they didn’t want to have a relationship, or-

“Vanya, I swear to you, I did  _ not  _ know. I didn’t mean to take advantage of you this way, and we’ll find you a professor that...” He trailed off, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m  _ sorry,  _ Vanya.” 

Shockingly, he was completely sincere in what he was saying. 

She crossed her arms over her chest, uncomfortable when they both remembered she was wearing his shirt. “You didn’t take advantage of me at all,” she pointed it out. “We fucked, it was consensual, you don’t have to worry about it.”

He sighed, “First of all, it meant more than just a fuck to me, Vanya. More importantly though, that’s not the point... I  _ refuse  _ to be your professor. It would be completely inappropriate, and I can’t be a professional about this.”

“Why not? It was a one night stand.” She had wanted it to be more, but she didn’t think that it was possibly by this point. 

He flinched. “Well, for me, it was more important than that. Even if it was just a one night stand, it meant something to me.” 

Vanya was a little surprised he was speaking with so much vulnerability, and she found herself admitting, “It meant something to me too, Five.”

“That’s all the more reason why you need to move classes, then, Vanya. I really would like it if we could actually…  _ explore _ this more.”

She sighed, happy that he wasn’t acting like a dick about this really, “Okay, yeah. Do you have any more classes today?” 

He frowned, “I told you I could meet up with you at seven thirty.” 

“And?”

“Did you pay attention to your schedule at all?”

“Are you gonna spank me if I say ‘no’?” 

“I’m really glad you’re not going to be my student. You’d kill me.” 

She giggled, “I would have switched immediately even if you hadn’t said you wanted me to.”

“Why did you bother arguing then?”

“How do you know my goal isn’t to vex you?”

He rolled his eyes, pulling on his jacket and piling up his belongings. “I’m aware your only goal here, at least from what I’ve seen so far, is to vex me. Also, nice shirt by the way.”

She glanced down at it with a grin, “I had this whole plan in my head, to wear it to the bar and-”

A man popped his head in, and she realized with a little bewilderment that it was the dean. “Oh, Dr. Hargreeves. I see you’ve met Miss Vanya. She’s one of our brightest students. I picked her myself for her scholarship.” She felt a little unsettled by the way that his eyes flicked over her body, and she noticed Five’s jaw locking. Maybe the man had a bit of a reputation with students. God, what kind of university  _ was  _ this? At the very least, Five didn’t  _ know  _ he was her professor when he looked at her like that. “Hopefully, you’ve gotten to know each other well. She’s truly-”

“Yes, we’ve gotten to know each other well,” Five interrupted, and the way the dean’s eyes flashed made her wonder if they had already been contentious before. “I was just about to leave, though. My class got out early, as it’s the first day.” 

“Wonderful,” he said, walking off.

“Why does it feel like you hate him?” Vanya asked softly. 

“Because I do.” 

She didn’t ask further questions, just following him when he grabbed his keys and the rest of his belongings. He offered for them to get take out instead, so they could search tonight for other classes that she could switch into. When she accepted, he wordlessly handed her his phone and told her to order whatever she’d like. 

After she’d typed in an order to Postmates, she watched his hands for a few seconds at the wheel.

Without giving him much warning except announcing what she was about to do before flicking off the button of his trousers, she leaned down, closing her mouth around his cock. Five made a small noise, not responding much else at all except to tell her to be careful. 

She smiled, pulling away a second just to say, “Of  _ course,  _ Daddy,” before pushing her head back down. He made a small noise, pulling one hand off the wheel and scratching her scalp soothingly.

“You look so good in that skirt,” Five crooned. “And I want to see you in my clothes more often. Seeing your tiny tits in my shirt is too good.”

It made her smirk against him as she realized that he was always this much of a talker. She palmed his erection when he hadn’t come after a few minutes of her bobbing her head up and down, wanting to feel him spill into her mouth again. She wanted to taste him on her tongue when she asked him to fuck her with his fingers, knowing that he’d oblige her, despite the fact that it was probably an unsafe driving practice. 

Vanya looked up at him, meeting his gaze when he glanced down for just a second. He bucked his hips up, causing her to choke. When he heard the sound, he pushed her down a little more roughly, and she whined as his cum started to gush into her mouth. She swallowed as much as she could, wiping off what had fallen down her chin with the back of her hand. 

“Daddy?” she asked, trying to steady her breathing. 

“Yes, angel?” 

She grabbed his hand, not receiving any complaint from him as she pushed it under her skirt. “Please?”

His knuckles ran along her heat, “What do you want from Daddy, angel?”

A frustrated noise left her throat. “I did a good job, yes?”

He smirked, thumbing the wet patch against her panties. “Yes, doll.”

_ “Please.” _

“Please what?”

She made the most pitiful facial expression she could muster, and he laughed, moving aside the fabric of her underwear. “Is this what you want, Vanya?” Five asked as his index finger plunged inside of her. “Daddy’s fingers to reward you for being a good girl?”

She nodded, and his smirk grew, thumb brushing her clit for just a second before he dragged his finger around her entrance, getting acquainted to the feeling of her. “Are you going to keep being a good girl?”

“Yes, Daddy,” she whimpered. His eyes were focused on the road, and the feeling that he was just the slightest bit bored as he made her feel so good caused another flash of desire to spread through her. “I’m your good girl.”

“Yes, you  _ are.”  _ She ground against his fingers, and he glanced over to her quickly, “Fuck yourself against my fingers and tell me all about how you’re mine, Vanya.” 

Dutifully, she followed his order, soaking his fingers as she stammered out weakly. Every once in a while, he’d brush his thumb against her clit in reward for what he heard. When she was starting to get a little weak, pleasure becoming almost painful, she asked him if he’d take charge again, and he did without complaint. It occurred to her at one point that they’d reached his place, that he was waiting to get out until she’d finished too. 

She asked him to stop touching her, though it pained her while she readjusted her skirt. He gave her a concerned look, asking if he did something wrong, but she shook her head and explained that she just wanted to go back to his place before they did anymore. While she would only be his student for a few more hours, she wanted to angle in the  _ sneaking around  _ aspect as long as she possibly could. Even though he was clearly uncomfortable with the knowledge that he’d fucked a student, she really hoped the gross side of him would win out at some point. They’d accessed all sorts of new levels of kinkiness with this turn of events, and she was desperate for him to stop feeling guilty so they could truly explore them.

When they reached his apartment, she was already in his arms, legs wrapped around his waist, lips pressed to his own. He grunted, readjusting her so that she wouldn’t fall from his grasp when he quickly unlocked his door. As he stumbled inside, she blurted, knowing she probably shouldn’t tempt fate with her luck, “Should we wait?”

He pressed a kiss to her throat, mumbling against her skin, “For what?”

“To make sure that I get switched out of your class? Before we have sex again?”

“Do you want to wait?” Five asked, starting to set her down.

“No,” she admitted, not wanting to stop. 

He nodded, laying her down on the couch. “We could wait to eat dinner first though,” he told her, sucking a hickey just under her jaw. She agreed, and he didn’t respond much except to hum against her skin. 

“Wait, I actually have a question.”

He pulled away, brows knitting together, “Yes?”

“If you help me with the class, is that against any rules?”

She was surprised when he laughed at her question. “If you were my student and I graded unfairly for you, it would be against rules. As you  _ won’t  _ be my student, I’d just be helping you as your… Whatever I am.”

“Oh, thank God because I am so stressed about this class. I have to take it to get my degree, which is annoying, no offense, and I’m worried that I’ll lose my scholarship.”

“What are all your struggles areas?”

“Most of them?” 

She could feel her cheeks flaming, but he just shrugged, “Vanya, it’s fine, it’s not that important of a class for you, I’m assuming, based on it being one of my intro classes.”

“Yeah, I’m a music major. It’s just for the required physical science credit, but I don’t want it to destroy my GPA.”

“How high of a GPA do you need to maintain for your scholarship?” 

“Three point eight, I think.” 

Five nodded, “As long as you do well in the others, you’ll be fine. And I can absolutely help you if you want, just tell me when you need it and I can.” 

She nodded, ghosting her hand over his stomach, wanting to warm her cold hands along his torso, but the doorbell rang, likely with their food. Five leaned down to kiss her quickly, patting her knee before he ran to grab the food. Her mind kept going back to seeing him in class earlier, wishing he didn’t have morals or ethics or whatever the fuck. 

When he got back to her, she pulled his arm down, making him fall to the couch, moving to climb on top of him until her hunger won over, grabbing the food and nearly smirking when she caught his dilated pupils and bewildered look in her periphery. The fact that she could tell he’d be willing to switch who had control was reassuring, considering the fact that he’d have to eventually learn a lesson about being such a bitchboy to his class. Although, really, the fact that she was eating and ignoring him while he stared at her like he was in the presence of a goddess felt like somewhat of a punishment anyways. He clearly wasn’t a virgin, but he seemed ready to fall at his knees at any moment and beg her to be with him forever, which she figured was probably one of the more likable qualities a man could possess. Anytime he started to reach for her, she lightly nudged him away, completely avoiding him otherwise. It was reassuring to know he’d probably start crying without any attention, and she was angling towards it. 

Only when she had finished her food did she even make an attempt at acknowledging him, and she was right, there really  _ were  _ tears pricking his vision. The look he was giving her was akin to a parched, dying man seeing a glass of water or Ben Shapiro’s wife seeing a vibrator. When he watched her, gulping, she nudged him back against the cushions, sitting down on his lap and trying not to laugh as she heard the slight yelp he made when her hips brushed against his erection. 

Her mouth pressed to his ear, murmuring, “You know you really bitched out on the students earlier, right?”

He groaned, clearly at war at himself for how wrong it was that she was still (or, at least for the next thirty minutes or so) his student and the fact that he was horny as Hell, and she giggled. “Are you going to apologize to them for being such a bitch, Five?”

“I’m n-” He grunted when she palmed against him, briefly. “You’re not  _ serious,  _ are you?”

“Oh, I’m serious, Five. Those poor  _ students- _ ” She made a point to brush over his cock again, wanting him to form a Pavlovian response to the word ‘students’ in hopes that it would eventually get them to a point where they could roleplay this scenario. “They had no  _ idea  _ that the reason their professor bitched out on them was because he’d fucked one of his students the night before.”

“Jesus Christ, Vanya-” She nipped his jaw. “You sh-shouldn’t joke about-” He cut himself off with a long moan, and she grinned at him, unbuttoning the shirt she’d stolen from him off her body, flicking it away impatiently. When she tipped his head to her chest, which he’d been staring at in transfixment, he closed his mouth around her nipple, dragging his tongue against it until it pebbled under his attention.

“You’re going to give them ten points extra credit on their next test,” Vanya decided, mainly to see how much power she held over him and also because, while her fellow students had all sneered at her earlier, she felt like it was only right that they got rewarded for dealing with Five when he was acting like a bitchboy. 

When he moved to protest she added, “If you don’t, I’ll make you watch and do  _ nothing _ while I get myself off for the rest of the night.”

_ “Christ, _ fine, yes. I agree.” 

She smirked, pushing his face back to her chest, grinding against him. Slickness had already seeped through her panties, beginning to coat his trousers, and she told him, condescension dripping through her tone,  _ “Good _ boy.” 

He whimpered against her chest, and she patted his head reassuringly. When he’d sucked a bruise just underneath her collarbone, she pushed his head away, laying him back against the couch. She quickly explained to him what she was about to do, figuring that it was probably necessary in this case, he nodded eagerly. Hooking her fingers through her panties, she dragged them off, tossing them away. She left her skirt on, just bunching it up a little and watching him bite his lip as he realized. 

As she crawled back on top of him, knees on either sides of his face, she told him softly that she was glad that it was more than just a one-night stand, watching his eyes soften and him start to say something before she sat on his face. His tongue dragged along her folds, gathering up cum before he plunged it inside of her cunt more fully. She ground against his face, commanding him how she wanted him to get her off, nearly tearing up when he followed her orders precisely. 

Already wound up from him touching her earlier, it didn’t take long at all before she was incapable of even speaking any longer, and he tapped her thigh, prompting her to pull away despite her legs feeling gelatinous. She made a small noise as he ran his tongue over his wet chin, flipping them over and bracketing his head between her thighs after taking a second to breathe. When he made contact with her again, causing her to cry out and tears to run down her cheeks, he made a comforting, crooning noise, squeezing her knee assuringly. Her vision went white, stomach tensing up, and he continued his ministrations even after he’d coaxed out her orgasm. 

When he pulled away, panting, he unzipped her skirt, telling her she was doing a good job and resting his head against her for a few beats after she was completely bared before him. She stroked his hair, sleepily asking him if she could spend the night again. 

“Spend as many nights as you want,” he mumbled, kissing the skin nearest to him. “I don’t mind at all. Like having you here.” 

They continued cuddling for a few minutes, and she got the idea again that he hadn’t been with anybody for a little bit. It occurred to her that he might just be the least bit  _ lonely,  _ which surprised her, all things considered. He was attractive, intelligent, and clearly didn’t have any troubles with money. From what she’d seen of him so far, he was also incredibly thoughtful and considerate of people, but then she supposed he’d been a bit of a dick to his students earlier. Maybe it was just that it was her, which made her  _ fond.  _ Though she knew realistically they had just met, she was old enough at this point that she didn’t mind their relationship moving this fast.

“I like you,” she admitted.

He glanced up, teeth flashing as he smiled, “I like you too, and I’m really glad we met.”

When he moved up to kiss her, she started tugging at his clothing, kissing him back as she unclothed him. He told her sheepishly that he needed to grab a condom, likely a little ashamed they hadn’t even talked about it last night, but she quickly told him that she was on the pill and clean as long as he was. Five raised his brows and told her that he was, asking, “You’re sure, though?“ 

It wasn’t like there was any need for propriety with him after everything they’d done. “I like it this way better, anyways. If you’d prefer, we can use one, but-”

“I’m fine with it,” he interjected. When he started to touch her again, she told him that she wanted to be on top, which he agreed to with an amused look, adding, “It’s very refreshing that you’re so honest.”

“Had an ex that said I was painfully so.” 

“How boring of them.” 

“Eh, she was probably right.” She climbed on top of his lap. When she gripped him into her hand, stroking him a few times for good measure before guiding him to her entrance, she told him, “But I prefer somebody who likes that I know what I want, anyways.”

They both hissed as they conjoined. “You feel so amazing, Vanya,” he said, resting his hands against her hips. “Fit so perfectly for me, angel.”

She rocked her hips forward, wanting him to sound more affected. He glanced at her tits as they bounced, looking up at her eyes to tell her that she was radiant, voice worshipping. Vanya wondered if he was like this with everybody he slept with or if it was her specifically, not sure how to ask, despite feeling completely comfortable with him. 

It was odd, really, how comfortable she felt with him. She’d never jumped this far into anything after two days, even if she did tend to move quickly in a lot of relationships. Nothing really concerned her about it, though, knowing that he was a genuinely good guy. Never before had she felt with  _ anybody  _ that she could spend the rest of her life with them, but he felt different somehow, oddly. 

When she rolled her hips again, he started meeting her movements, guiding the movements of her hips with his hands. She splayed her hands on his chest, chatting to him off-handedly, watching the way his eyes glazed over like the nonchalant tone was doing something for him too. By this point, she’d just accepted everything she did would work for him, which was both reassuring and amusing to her. 

Eventually, at some point, her words became a little more stilted, stammering them out, and he hissed out praise to her, groaning as she clenched around him when he did. As he continued praising her, he reached down to thumb at her clit. 

When she could feel herself starting to climax again, he kept speaking, voice starting to sound more and more affected, drawing out her orgasm until he was coming inside of her, eyes shut tight.

She collapsed on top of him, snuggling up to him. When he kissed the top of her head, her lips curled. 

“We gotta change my schedule,” she muttered, not wanting to move at all.

“Can we stay here for just a bit?” Five asked, stroking her hair.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” 

He relaxed once she said it, and they started talking about unimportant things while they cuddled. She was just starting to fall asleep when he told her that they should probably start searching. 

“Okay, fine,” she grumbled, making him laugh. He gently disentangled from her before walking away to grab his laptop. Her eyes shut for a few moments before he shook her awake, sitting down beside her and pulling her easily into his lap, like he’d done it many times before. The intimacy of the gesture was comforting, and she rested her head on his shoulder while he signed in. After he’d gotten to the school’s website, she signed into her student account, though the process was slow-going, based on the fact that they stopped every few seconds to start making out. 

Forty minutes later, they started searching through alternate classes for her. 

And finding absolutely none. 

“How the fuck is everybody full?” Five muttered to himself, desperately trying to find if any other campuses had it. “Oh, God, Vanya… and you  _ have  _ to take this?”

“If I want to graduate on time.” 

He pulled her off of him, and she nearly gasped at where his line of thinking was going. “No, I don’t want-”

“We can’t be together, Vanya.” His voice was filled with a lot of self-loathing, like he was upset that they’d done anything in the first place at all. Even though she knew  _ why,  _ it still stung. “I’m sorry, but we can’t. It’s not right.” 

“How is it not right?” Vanya argued. “I’m an adult. I’m consenting. You’re an adult. You’re consenting. It’s  _ one  _ class.”

“You’re my  _ student.  _ It’s  _ wrong.”  _

“So, you’re breaking up with me?” 

He frowned, “I’d  _ hardly _ say we were together.”

“But you  _ wanted  _ to be!” 

“It doesn’t matter,” he snapped. “Yeah, I wanted something to come of this, but I’m not going to be your professor  _ and  _ sleep with you. And I’m not going to ask you to take longer to complete your degree when I met you  _ yesterday.”  _

“Yes, but you  _ do  _ want to explore this, don’t you?” 

“Obviously, I do, Vanya.” 

“And you don’t know  _ any  _ of your colleagues who would be able to take me as a student instead?”

“Not unless they have a student that drops out on them.”

“Well, it’s still super early in the semester. I could get waitlisted for a few classes, and maybe a few people will have dropped in the next few weeks.”

“We still can’t-”

“We could wait to do anything else until then. I’m fine with that.” 

He rubbed his temple, “Alright, fine, yeah. That’s fine.” 

“And if I can’t take anybody else’s class-”

“Which is a  _ strong _ possibility.” 

“Then, we’ll end this.”

“I’m really sorry, Vanya.” For his part, he really did sound sorry. “I can’t believe… God, I’m sorry.” 

She nodded, feeling her stomach begin to sink. “It’s fine. I should, uh, go-”

“No!” Five said hastily. “It’s fine. You can spend the night. I already said you could, but maybe not after tonight. At least not until you’re out of my class. If you get out.” 

“If I never get out though…” She cleared her throat, wishing she’d thought to put on clothes for this conversation. “Would you be willing, like, after-”

“Yeah,” he said, glancing away. “I mean, if you wanted to, and I wasn’t grading anything for you anymore…. yeah, I’d be okay with that.” 

She bit her lip. “Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that.” 

“Yeah, I hope.” 

She wanted to say something more, but she didn’t know if it would make him more upset. Glancing down, she told him, “I’m sorry.” 

“Hey, don’t apologize.” He tipped her chin up. “Neither of us had any idea, okay? Don’t worry about it. It’s my fault, really, and I should have said we had to wait until we knew that you could get out of the class.”

When Vanya kissed him, he made a small noise. 

“Just tonight?” Her voice was small, a little shyer than it normally ever was. She didn’t want to lose this. Even if they had only known each other a short time, she could see this progressing into something serious. 

“Vanya-”

“Please.” She gave him the most pathetically pleading look she could muster, and he groaned, kissing her back. When he lifted her up, she wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him carry her to his bedroom. 

“This is a bad idea,” he grumbled. She kissed his jaw.  _ “Such  _ a bad idea.”

“Why can’t you be more of a freak?”

“There’s a difference between that and being a bad person, actually.” 

When he laid back on his bed, she crawled onto his lap. “You didn’t know,” she reminded him, nuzzling against his neck. 

“I do  _ now.” _

“It’s just for tonight,” she told him, practically purring when he grabbed the covers and pulled them over her. 

_ “Just  _ for tonight,” he confirmed. “And, then, nothing.”

She wondered if she asked him nice enough he would agree to more nights. “What if I’m just being a  _ really  _ good girl?”

“You’re killing me.”

“Am I not a good girl?” 

He made a frustrated noise, and she giggled, “Alright, fine, I won’t continue.  _ Daddy.”  _

“I feel like you’re enjoying tormenting me.”

“Aren’t you?”

“Not answering that.” 

“So, yes, then.”

He didn’t answer, so she craned her neck, chin on his chest, “You know I really enjoyed this, right?”

He sighed. 

“I really do like you,” she added, kissing his throat. “And I’m really hoping that by tomorrow people will have decided the class is too hard and try to take it later. This really sucks.” 

“I know,” he agreed. “I wish you’d been in another class.”

“I wish physics wasn’t required for a fucking music major.” 

“I’m sorry,” he told her, squeezing her to him, trailing his large hand over her spine gently. “Try not to stress about the class itself, though. It’s actually not that hard once you figure out how to use the formulas and everything.” 

She made a small noise. “Maybe there’s a summer semester course?” 

“I mean, there definitely are, and I know some of the professors that teach them and they've all got pretty good reviews.” 

“I’m really afraid to not graduate when I need to,” she admitted. “I’m really poor already, which, yeah, I know with that degree that I’m not precisely going to be making a  _ lot,  _ but I just want to be out as soon as possible. I want to teach, and I can’t without a degree.” 

“I mean, even if you’re in my class, realistically it’d only be six months, Vanya. And I’d much rather you have a chance to finish your degree and worry about your career than worry about me at all, alright? I really want you to be happy.”

She smiled. “Are you going to be a dick to me if I’m your student, though? Because you seem like a dickish professor.”

“I’m not dickish,” he said, frowning. 

“So, that’s a yes?” 

“I wouldn’t offer you special treatment, if that's what you’re asking.”

“So you’re telling me that you’re going to be a completely nice and considerate professor so that you can be nice and considerate to me?”

He snorted. “I feel like I shouldn’t be nice and considerate to you right  _ now,  _ even.” 

She pouted. “Why not?”

“Because you’re acting like a brat.”

“I almost want to be in your class, just to fuck with you more.”

He rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t act any differently to you than I would any other student.”

“What if I’m not wearing underwear?”

“How would I even know if you weren’t? Wait, don’t answer that.” 

She grinned. “I wonder if I could make you cry from frustration.”

“You already have done that.”

“If you play your cards right, I’ll do it everyday for quite a while.”

“You’re killing me,” he repeated. 

“But you _ like  _ me.” 

“I do, unfortunately.”

When she cuddled closer to him, he kissed her forehead. “I really don’t want this to not work out,” he blurted suddenly. “I want to be with you.” 

He closed his eyes, like he was embarrassed by having even said it, so she softly murmured that she’d like that too, not speaking again after and falling asleep in his arms while he gently stroked her hair. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! I’ll try to update this faster than I did last time 👀


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot believe this already has over a 100 kudos!!!! I just realized this earlier. Thank you so much to everyone reading, and I’ll try to pay more attention to this WIP!!!!

She didn’t have class the next day, having curated her schedule to not have class on Tuesdays because her mother liked her to come over for dinner on that night. Five taught Mondays through Thursdays and had office hours Fridays, so he wouldn’t be able to stay with her all day. However, his first class didn’t start until noon, so she was trying to convince him to eat breakfast with her.

_ “Please?” _

“I want to get there early,” Five grumbled. “On the off-chance I have anybody who would like to talk about the class.”

“It’s the second day of the semester.”

He sighed, moving away from the equations he was working on to sit down on his couch. She wondered why he didn’t just use a chalkboard, but she didn’t argue with it, finding it oddly charming. 

“I’ll let you use me as a plate!” Vanya blurted, not wanting him to go away and worrying he might if he wasn’t working on that anymore. “You could eat syrup off my tits.” 

“I don’t even have syrup! My breakfast foods include oatmeal, toast, or cereal. None of which I’m going to eat off of you.”

She pouted, bargaining, “I’ll be a good girl if you wait to go to work.” 

“I highly doubt you’re capable.”

When she sat down in his lap, he didn’t argue, likely realizing she wouldn’t be able to do this the second she left his apartment. A part of her was sad to know that she would have to go back to her shitty apartment, draining out the paychecks she made from teaching music lessons to rich kids, but she also knew that it was for the best. Once they  _ could  _ be together, it would be all the more satisfying. Maybe Five would be so horny by the time they could do anything that he’d just ask her to move in, which would certainly be ideal. 

She leaned against his neck, “Please stay for breakfast.”

He frowned, “V-”

_ “Please. _ Just one meal.”

“I don’t think that’s a good-”

“Once you leave, we’re not going to be able to spend time together outside of the campus. You’ll be my professor, and we won’t be able to see each other like this for possibly  _ months.  _ Can’t you at least stay for just a little bit longer?”

He furrowed his brows. “A  _ little  _ bit longer.”

As she pressed her lips to his, he made a small noise, wrapping an arm around her. Though she knew that he probably wanted to complain, he didn’t. At least, not until she grabbed his hand and guided it to her breast.

“No,” he said, pulling away. “Not yet.”

Vanya groaned, climbing off of him. 

“I should go,” he said, though she could tell he was upset about it. “It won’t be that long of a time, okay? And then we can do whatever you want. Promise.” He kissed her quickly, brushing a strand of hair away. “I’ll see you soon, Vanya.”

As he started gathering his belongings, she asked, “Is it going to be super uncomfortable when I see you tomorrow?”

His shoulders tensed as his grip on his briefcase tightened, “I won’t let it be awkward, okay? We’ll be fine.”

She nodded, wishing he wouldn’t leave but knowing that it was necessary in this case. He  _ was  _ right, that it would only be a few months before they could actually explore this further, but she wished that he wasn’t. 

When the door shut behind him, she flinched.

* * *

After her mother had gotten divorced from Vanya’s father, she’d gone through something of a midlife crisis, which, frankly, it made her feel a lot less like a Stepford-wife-slash-GOP-made-robot. 

“Hi, honey!” Grace called from her booth. A woman who appeared to be younger than Vanya was sitting down beside her, and she grinned, excited to meet her mother’s newest breakdown fling. 

“Hello, Mom.” She turned to the lady. “I’m Vanya, her daugher.” She nodded boredly, flouncing off after a quick kiss to Grace. When she was gone, Vanya asked sardonically, “Am I going to have to call her Mom too?”

Grace shook her head. “No, dear, I don’t think this one will work out. We were just breaking up as you got here.”

Vanya snorted. “Did she realize how little you got in the divorce, then?” Though her mother was a surgeon, she had taken something of a sabbatical the past six months, after being forced to do so by her hospital. 

“They always do,” she mused, waving over a waitress, probably trying to find a replacement for the woman who just left. “So, how did your first day of classes go? I would have called you last night, but I was under the weather.”

Drunk. She was drunk. 

Vanya wondered briefly if being a trainwreck was genetic before a thought occurred to her. “Mom, could I tell you something? That’s a little personal?”

“Of course, dear.” She ordered drinks for them from the waitress, turning back to Vanya with an expectant smile. “What is it you needed to tell me?”

She laced her fingers together, wanting something to do with her hands, realizing that they were shaking. “I did something a little stupid. Well, actually, I didn’t realize I’d done something stupid at first, but then I realized that it was stupid and I didn’t stop.”

“I would suggest getting the abortion quickly,” Grace told her, critically inspecting her abdomen. “If your father found out about the child, he’d probably complain. He hates children-”

“I’m not pregnant,” she interrupted. 

“Oh, well, what’s wrong?”

Vanya raised her brows, glancing up with a small smile to the waitress when she set the drinks down. “I had a one-night stand the other night.”

Grace nodded. “Was he married? Depending on his income, that’s the best way to seal the deal, actually.”

“I don’t… He’s not married.”

“Well, why was it a mistake, then?”

“He’s my professor.”

Her mother looked confused. “Why is that a problem?”

“He’s my  _ professor.”  _

“Isn’t that kind of exciting?”

Oh, God, it was  _ really  _ bad if her mother was actively encouraging it. “Mom, I can’t be with him. It would be wrong.”

“Why? You’re twenty seven, and he’s not even married.”

“Yeah, but he’ll grade my work, be in a position of power...” She was starting to sound like him, which was disconcerting. 

Grace shrugged. “Well it was just a one-night stand, right?”

“Not precisely.”

Her entire face lit up, and it was kind of nice to see. When she’d been married to him, she’d always smiled in such a rehearsed, fake way. 

But what she was smiling about wasn’t going to happen, anyways. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Vanya insisted. “Nothing more is going to happen. And that’s final.”

* * *

As Five walked into class the next day, a few minutes late (which felt hypocritical), she realized that she’d lied to her mother. 

He spared one glance at her, smiling quickly, and she glanced away, cheeks heating. 

Five cleared his throat, walking to the chalkboard and launching into a lecture without preamble. As he scribbled equations, he flicked his eyes to her a few times, clearly trying to get her attention, but she ignored him, copying everything he was saying to her notebook, knowing she would likely fail this class if she didn’t. Though he’d said it wouldn’t be weird, it was weird. Mainly because  _ she _ wanted them to be something more, and she didn’t think it was possible not to think about it when she saw him for a few hours twice a week. Plus, it was likely that she was going to have to go to his office hours as well-

Her heart started to pound, thinking of being in his office with him, alone. When she started to glance up at him, realizing class was only about ten minutes from ending and that she could go home and think about being alone with him until she fell asleep, he immediately noticed that she was looking at him, announcing with a small smile that each student was also going to receive ten points of extra credit on their first test. The students all looked at him in shock at the declaration, and she figured that he probably wasn’t the type to usually do it. When he dismissed the class, none of the students shot her dirty looks at all, which was a relief. 

“Vanya,” Five announced after the students had filed out, his voice somewhere between hesitant and apprehensive. 

She finished gathering her things before she bothered responding. “Yes, Dr. Hargreeves?” The words were bitter as they fell from her mouth. 

He opened his mouth, glancing around a few times before he stepped forward, hands clasped behind his back. When he sat down beside her, she felt like she might pass out. “You don’t have to call me that, you know, Vanya.”

She scowled at him. “What do you expect me to call you,  _ Dr. Hargreeves ?” _

“You don’t have to pretend nothing happened, you know.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, shoving her backpack over her shoulders. 

_ “Vanya-” _

“What do you want from me?” Vanya burst out, not moving from her seat. “Do you expect me to feel okay right now? You said this wouldn’t be uncomfortable, but it  _ is.”  _

He glanced away as his jaw locked. “I’m sorry, Vanya. If I could get you out of this class, I  _ would.”  _

“That doesn’t change the fact that I want you now,” she said quietly, trying to hide the shame in her voice. It probably said a lot about her, how quickly she’d grown hope for them, but she didn’t particularly care. All she knew was that she wanted to leave this room, wanted to forget the hope that she’d managed to accumulate so easily. Really, it wasn’t healthy for her to want something so thoroughly in such a short span of time. Technically, they’d known each other less than a week. There was no reason she should be as upset about this as she was. 

Maybe she should just find some random person to keep her company for a few days before she moved on again. It seemed to keep her mother content. 

Yeah, she knew that her mother’s happiness was somewhat falsified. Most women who’d been married to men like her father were really talented at that kind of thing, and, sometimes, they were talented enough at pretending to be happy that they managed to convince themselves too. 

It probably wasn’t a good thing that she gazed upon that quality in envy. 

Five heaved out a breath, and she realized she’d been staring at him the entire time. “We don’t know that you’ll be in here the rest of the semester,” he insisted. “And the  _ worst  _ case scenario is that it is just a few more months, okay?”

She figured that maybe she was being a  _ little  _ melodramatic with her reply, but she also felt that he should expect that kind of a behavior from her. Even if it meant that she snapped, “How do I know you won’t find some other one-night stand in those months?”

Five blinked, looking somewhat bewildered, eyebrows raised practically to his hairline. “Do you think that I do all that with just anybody?”

“I don’t know! I have  _ no  _ idea what you are like.”

“Well, I  _ don’t,  _ and I’m pretty sure I’ve told you that already. I really  _ did  _ mean it when I told you that you were different to me, which I suppose, given the fact that we just met, you might just assume I said because I was trying to get into your pants. However, as I am morally obligated to  _ not  _ get into your pants, I feel like it should be very clear now.”

_ “What  _ should be very clear now?”

“That you were more than just a one-night stand, Vanya.” He sat up, scowling ahead of him. She got the idea that he was considering saying something more, but, finally, his jaw locked again, and he stomped out of the room. 

Vanya watched him go, wondering if she’d be able to wait a few months from telling him that he was more than a one-night stand to her too.

* * *

She was pretty sure that the higher up a science got the more likely she would be subjected to the torture she was facing now. In a desperate attempt to avoid F-  _ Dr. Hargreeves,  _ she had started going on Youtube the past few weeks, trying to find physicists working on problems similar to the ones that he’d give each class period. She was pretty sure the temptation to jump his bones in the middle of office hours would be easier than the urge to scream in frustration at some dorky physicist’s puns about vectors. In fact, she was pretty sure she had lost all urge to ever have sex again with one particularly cringe-worthy one. 

Okay, maybe she wouldn’t go  _ that  _ far. 

Still, she was getting more and more frustrated the longer she listened to the man, and, eventually, she shut her laptop off, resisting the urge to cry in frustration. Maybe if she went to Five’s office hours and just kind of bent over at the right angle he’d give her an ‘A.’

Yes, she understood that it was thinking like that that kept him from actually fucking her now, but she was getting desperate. Perhaps all she’d have to do was give him enough of a pleading face that he’d take pity on her. 

Or, maybe, she should just go to his office hours and  _ actually  _ ask for his help. How bad could it be? He was a professional. There was no way that it’d be awkward.

* * *

It was awkward.

* * *

After Vanya got out of his office, panting, she decided that maybe she would just have to drop his class and never speak to him again. 

Technically,  _ nothing  _ had happened. Five had just looked up at her, but she’d noticed the way his pupils had darkened as he looked at her, the dusting of pink across his cheeks, the way his Adam's Apple had bobbed as he gulped. She wasn’t stupid. It was very clear that he’d been thinking exactly like her, and his gaze had dipped ever so slightly to her chest as it had started to heave before him before she hastily ran out of his office, panicking, hearing him call her name. 

It was probably not the  _ best  _ reaction for her to clamber to her apartment complex, but she just needed to stop freaking out for a few seconds before she could be reacquainted with the rest of the world. As soon as she reached her front door, she collapsed in front of it, somewhat dramatically, pressing her cheek to the slightly warm concrete, wishing it was colder, needing something to ground her. She could hear her neighbors, an elderly lady named Agnes and her middle-aged husband named Hazel, banging it out. This was a common theme with them, and she wondered if they even had jobs or if they were both retired. Maybe they filmed amateur porn together in their apartment. 

She wished she had someone to film amateur porn with, actually, but maybe that was just her getting sentimental again. It was becoming somewhat of a common theme with her these days, and she assumed it was a sign that she needed to buy another, more powerful vibrator. 

“Vanya?”

Oh,  _ God.  _ It was her  _ other  _ neighbor. The one who was always missing her cat, convinced Vanya was planning to steal it. And, yes, Vanya had considered it many times, but she didn’t want to become the next Old Cat Lady in her apartment complex. Sometimes, she was pretty sure the disgusting old place was just some sort of purgatory for women, deciding if they’re going to be horny elderly women in unconventional relationships with large age gaps  _ or  _ if they’re going to be an Old Cat Lady. Technically, her life could go  _ either  _ way, but she was starting to think that Old Cat Lady was going to be more likely, especially if she was going to drop the class and avoid Five like the plague or like he was a republican podcaster. 

“Yes, Mrs. Kowalski?”

“Why are you laying down on the concrete?”

“I’m in a bad state, emotionally.”

“You are in the way.”

“I’m  _ in  _ mourning. For a life that could have been.”

“Stop being dramatic.”

Vanya sneered up at her neighbor. “I’m going to steal your cat, Kowalski. And Mr. Puddles will love me more than you, and that  _ is  _ a threat.”

Mrs. Kowalski started to reply, but Vanya stood up to her full height (which, granted, wasn't much of a threat), eyes narrowing at her before she opened the door to her apartment and immediately sunk onto the couch, setting her feet on the armrest and lamenting her tragic existence. 

Her phone started to ring. 

“Hello?”

“Vanya?”

She sat up. “Dr. Hargreeves?”

A few beats of silence. Five cleared his throat before asking, “Are you alright, Vanya?”

“Am I…  _ What?” _

“You ran out of my office before I could say anything to you, like you were upset about something. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright.”

“I… yeah, I’m alright, Dr. Hargreeves.”

“Do you  _ really _ have to call me that right now, Vanya? It’s just us. I’m at my place.”

She imagined him saying the words, laying back on the couch in his sleek apartment, a tired expression on his face. If Vanya asked right now, she was pretty sure he’d be fine with her joining him. An image of her crawling onto his lap, having him touch her until the stress and frustration was gone and she was putty in his hands. Until she fell asleep on his shoulder, and he carried her to bed. It would be so easy for her to ask, but she knew it was a bad idea. “I think it’s best that I call you Dr. Hargreeves,” Vanya muttered.

He sounded miserable when he said, “You’re probably right.”

“Just a few more months,” she reminded him weakly. 

“It… I almost want to say fuck it.”

“You shouldn’t,” Vanya told him, surprising herself. “It’s a short time period, Five.”

There was enough of a pause for him that she glanced down to make sure he hadn’t hung up. Just as she set the phone back to her ear, Five asked, “Do you think that we could talk for a little bit?” It sounded like he was almost… upset. Like he needed her to speak to him, but he was afraid to ask, to break a boundary that he’d put up for good reason. “That we could just have an hour where we pretend that there’s nothing wrong in us speaking to one another in this way, and we’re just two people who recently met and are still excited to see where it goes?”

“All I did was call you ‘Five,’” Vanya protested softly, but she could feel her face beginning to heat up, wanting to hear him keep speaking like this. 

“You say my name so well.”

She rolled her eyes, giggling softly. 

“Please, Vanya?”

A montage of images filled her mind- stealing Kowalski’s cat, the cat growing old while her hair starting to gray, her continuing to age while her mother’s flings stayed in their early twenties.

In the grand scheme of things, one hour wasn’t  _ that  _ bad. “Okay, Five,” Vanya relented. 

“Thank, God,” he sighed, and she could easily visualize him relaxing on his couch, eyebrows furrowing in that way that she couldn’t decide looked either grumpy or contemplative. “I just… wanted a few moments where I didn’t have to pretend that you’re not on my mind.” 

“Did I really have that much of an impact on you?” Vanya teased.

“Yes, Vanya,” Five said, no joking in his tone at all. “You did.”

Her heart stuttered a beat, and she could feel a blush pooling against her cheeks, wanting to say something that would adequately describe what she was feeling. But she’d never talked to someone so forwardly before, and she was weak. So, instead, she went for humor because it was easy and light and fun, and she could tell herself that that was what she wanted. Not complex and intense and strange, like the feelings budding in her chest as she thought of him lying down on his couch, holding his breath for whatever she’d say next. 

“Is this the part where you ask me what I’m wearing?” she joked, glancing down at her hands and feeling ashamed that she couldn’t just be direct. Perhaps if she could find the words to say what she really  _ wanted,  _ she could actually get it. “Because I haven’t really had time to change, actually. So, don’t let your imagination run too wild.”

He chuckled, but it sounded forced. 

“Are you okay, Five?” Vanya blurted. “You seem… off.”

“I just had a really rough day, honestly.”

“What happened?”

“My twin. He had to go to the hospital, and he insisted that I not visit him until this weekend. His wife is with him, but I really want to go anyway.”

He had a twin? “Why doesn’t he want you to visit him?”

“He just lives in a different state, and he’s the type of person that really downplays everything when he is struggling so he doesn’t stress anybody he cares about out.”

“Are you the same way?”

A small chuckle. “Fuck no, I let everyone in the world know when I’m upset.”

She smiled. “So, you have a twin?”

“Yeah, Luther, but he’s my fraternal twin. We don’t even look like we have the same parents, honestly, so nobody realizes until one of us tells them.”

“Are you two close?’

“We were once closer, but once he got with his wife, Allison, we drifted apart a little, I suppose.”

“Do you not get along with Allison?”

“Oh, no, it’s not like that at all. He just really, really cares for her, and she kind of eclipses everything else. Plus, they moved to another state together, anyways. They’re very happy, and I don’t mind my brother and I talking a little less if he’s with somebody that makes him that happy.”

“Do you think she’d tell you if it was serious?”

“Absolutely. I just get stressed, regardless. He’s like one of the few people I like in the world, so, naturally, it would be super upsetting if he got hurt.”

She laughed. “Are you actually as much of a grumpy bastard as the review on Ratemyprofessors said?”

“Uh, if you’ll notice, that review was deleted, Vanya.”

“Oh, well, in that case, it was practically never said at all.”

_ “Precisely.” _

When they were silent again, it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was kind of nice, actually, like they were gathering up the thoughts they wanted to share before they said them aloud, and there was no rush to say them at all. 

“Why did you go to my office, by the way?”

“I was struggling on the homework.”

“Oh, yeah? Which problem? I can walk you through it.”

“Can we do that during your office hours, actually? I don’t want to waste this time on that.”

“Of course, Vanya. You’re always welcome to call me about it, though. Technically, my number is on the syllabus, so you asking for my help that way wouldn’t be wrong.”

“Even if I did my problems shirtless?”

“The true thing that would be  _ wrong  _ in that scenario is that I wouldn’t even get to see.”

“I could always do a video call.”

“Wouldn’t you worry that you’d create some sort of Pavlovian response in me towards the concepts I explained?”

“It’s now actually my  _ goal  _ to see you get hard in the middle of class from a Pavlovian response.”

“The Pavlovian response could just me bursting into tears, you know.”

“Even better.”

* * *

The following Monday, Vanya showed up to his class fifteen minutes early. None of the students had gathered yet, but Five was, flipping through a lesson plan behind his podium. He glanced up when she walked in, not commenting when she stepped forward to him until she was leaning over his shoulder, reading his words. “Is Luther better?” she asked quietly. 

“Yes, Vanya.”

“I wouldn’t object if you still used pet names for me,” she told him, ghosting her fingers over the bluish veins that popped out on the back of his hand. 

“You’re killing me,” Five responded, not looking up from his lesson plan. His voice went just the slightest bit quieter when he added,  _ “Sweetheart.” _

Her body shifted a little closer, feeling the thudding of his heart as her thighs pressed to his legs. “If I’m really being bad,” she murmured. “Maybe you should punish me. Bend me over your desk and spank me.”

“I don’t think you’d consider that a punishment.” He flipped his hand over, so she was practically holding his hand, tempted to lean forward and kiss it. “In fact, I could see you begging for it. Maybe  _ that  _ is a good idea for a punishment, making you  _ beg  _ for my c-”

“Hello, Dr. Hargreeves!” a voice trilled, and Five raised his brows, glancing up with a carefully neutral expression. She could tell he was frustrated, that he was hard behind the podium, but she was also pretty sure that he could make it to where the student would never be able to even  _ suspect  _ his predicament. 

“Hello, Ben,” Five called. 

“Are you Vanya?” he asked her, who nodded. Five smiled to himself, like he knew where this was going. She got the idea that Ben might have already proved himself to be something of a kissass, but she also got the idea that Five might actually be fond of him, regardless, based on the amusement dancing in his eyes. “I have started a study group, with two other members of the class. Klaus and Diego. Would you want to join by any chance? I’ll be honest and say that I’m pretty sure Klaus and Diego only joined because they’ve seen me working in the library and assume I’m a nerd because of it, though.”

Vanya pulled away from Five, watching him tense for just a second before she walked over to Ben, face going blank as he started taking notes against the schedule. 

_ “Are _ you a nerd?” Vanya inquired. “Because that would be enough to convince me to join.”

“I’m a little bit of a nerd. Though English is more my subject. No offense to Dr. Hargreeves, but I don’t see why we  _ have  _ to take physics.”

“Maybe it’s some sort of punishment.” Vanya was careful  _ not  _ to emphasize the word, worrying it would be a little  _ too _ obvious, but she could still hear Five make a choked little noise. 

Ben laughed. “Maybe. So, you’re in?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Thank, God. Diego and Ben are actually  _ hopeless.” _

* * *

Her mother chose to come to her apartment the next day, bringing food with her for their Tuesday dinner, claiming that she didn’t want to eat in public with her when she was so terribly hungover. 

“I’m starting to think I have a problem,” her mother said, scooping out honey chicken onto a plate for her. 

“Your drinking?” Vanya asked dubiously, knowing that that wasn’t likely the case.

“No, that’s fine. I’m perfectly fine.”

Vanya raised her brows. 

“My  _ problem  _ is that you’re not telling me  _ anything.  _ A few weeks ago, you gave me the idea that you were going to start dating your professor, and I am now getting the idea that you will not.”

“Most mothers don’t talk to their children this way, you know.”

“Well, I’m hardly like  _ most  _ mothers, am I, dear? I would like to think that I'm much better than average mothers.”

She didn’t comment, and Grace frowned at her. “Are you going to tell me what’s up or not?”

Even though her mother was something of a mess, Vanya  _ did  _ want somebody she could talk to that would never judge her, and she knew that Grace was incapable of that. Plus, she knew that her mother didn’t know anybody from her college, that neither she nor Five would face any consequences for anything she said to her mother, so she figured it was definitely safe to say. 

“I’m going to tell you,” Vanya said, not bothering to sound exasperated. She needed someone to confide in with this information, and it was killing her. “Nothing has happened. Well, okay. There was a short phone call last Wednesday and a tiny bit of flirting yesterday.” 

“But you  _ want _ something to happen,” her mother guessed, serenely shoveling rice into her mouth. 

“Yeah, I want something to happen,” Vanya confirmed, glancing down at the table. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Does it matter if it is, Vanya?”

“Well, yeah…”

“Vanya, here’s the thing. There are a ton of people that would think I did the bad thing by divorcing your father, and we both know that that was the best decision I have ever made. Good and bad are subjective, and somewhat unimportant. Do you think your feelings for him are wrong?”

She shook her head. 

“And do you think that it  _ really _ matters what you do now, when you’re clearly going to go after him the second the semester ends, anyways?”

“I mean…”

“Vanya, are you going to go after him after the semester ends?”

Pursing her lips, she nodded. 

“And he’s aware of this?”

She nodded again.

“How different does it make it, then? You both have feelings for each other, you’re both adults. I say go for it.”

Vanya wondered how it would go over if she said all that to Five. Her voice was sardonic as she asked, “And how do you suggest I tell  _ him  _ that?”

“I have a few ideas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! 💕💕💕💕 I don’t know exactly when this will be next updated, but it will be somewhat soon!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of the kudos, comments, and bookmarks on this fic! I appreciate you all, dearly, for reading, and this fic is just a few chapters away from being my longest one! It takes me a little bit longer because the chapters are 5k, but I really do enjoy that this will be one of my longer fics because I have a lot of fun with it.

Shamefully, after talking to her mother, Vanya’s gradual acceptance of her and Five’s situation abruptly left her, and she quickly became just as frustrated as she’d been before. If not more so. Because now she had her mother enabling her, which she imagined was what every child wanted from their parents. Her mother, despite being a trainwreck, had a few points. First of all, it wasn’t like she and Five had broken things off for good upon finding out. Vanya was absolutely certain that he was still interested in her, and she was  _ also _ absolutely that she was interested in him. Plus, there was the fact that they were pretty much on the same page that, as soon as she was not his student any longer, they planned to get together. 

Her mother had laid out a five step plan, claiming that it was a modified and modernized version of how she’d trapped Vanya’s father. At Vanya’s horrified look, Grace had shrugged and said that she was welcome to judge her,  _ but _ she wouldn’t have been born if it had not been for her mother’s gold-digging and she should be thankful for it. Vanya, figuring that it was better to not have her mother give any more details, asked her to write down the steps for her, figuring that they’d both forget them, otherwise. Considering they’d both been drunk by the time they had the conversation. 

“Wait, you mean the first thing you did to get…” Vanya shook her head clear of the mental image of her mother trying to hook her father. “Okay, so you’re telling me that I have to first get him to approach me? Isn’t that kind of obvious?”

Her mother shrugged. “I don’t really think it matters whether or not it’s obvious, just that it  _ works.” _

* * *

It didn’t. 

Well, okay, not at first for sure. 

As she showed up to class the next day, she started to think that she’d imagined it all. He was acting just like any other professor, discussing something that she’d actually learned back in AP Physics, years ago that she remembered pretty quickly after he started writing equations out on the board. When he asked a question to see if anybody actually understood, she was a little surprised as she raised her hand. 

Furrowing his brow, he nodded for her to say it, grinning as she got it right. 

Beside her, Ben gave her a thumbs up, and she beamed at him. For just a fraction of a second, she thought Five was noticing this exchange, but then he was moving onto the next section of the unit. She scribbled down notes as quickly as she could, shocked when she realized how quickly it seemed before the lecture was over. When he announced that class was over, she stayed by, trying to figure out what she was doing. 

“Do you need any help with that?”

Five was leaning over her shoulder. She had not intended for him to go to her while she was working; she actually  _ had  _ just wanted to get a jumpstart on her work. 

This hadn’t been intended. It was like he’d known that she wasn’t trying anything, and now he was showing up to vex her. 

“You seem to have a hold on it, already,” he noted. “Have you studied this before?’

“I mean, yeah, but it’s been years.”

He shrugged. “It makes sense. Sometimes math feels like it’s more muscle memory than it is an actual conscious thing. I don’t know, that’s how it is for me, at least. This has assured me, though. You have nothing to worry about for this class.”

“Really?” She handed him her work, a few sample problems she’d found online for the concept. “Did I get these right?”

He sat down beside her, grabbing a red ink pen and hovering it above her work as he flicked his eyes through. “This isn’t how I would have solved the problem,” he noted. 

She shrugged. “It’s not wrong, though, is it?”

“Not at all.” He frowned. “Except right here. Make sure to pay attention when you work, you accidentally forgot to add a 1 right  _ here,”  _ he pointed to a number that should have been in the triple digits but she’d forgot to add one of the numbers. “Making the answer to  _ this  _ particular question wrong. One thing that helps a lot of people is circling when you get to the next step on something, but there are also a lot of people who will use different colors of pens while they work.” 

“Do you have any advice for avoiding mistakes like that on a test?  _ Without  _ doing those two things?”

He laughed. “You can usually work problems backwards, which will let you know if you got the  _ right  _ answer too. How have you been doing on your homework?”

“Pretty well.” She scowled. “Why are you not adding it to the gradebook?”

“I’ll put more grades in soon, V.” He studied her work. “Why, exactly, were you even stressed about this class before? You could major in physics if you ever wanted to do so.”

“I enjoy music.”

“You said you wanted to teach, right?” Five stood up, starting to pack his things while he talked to her. “Were you thinking younger or older?”

“Probably younger. Most likely elementary or middle school. All of the students I’ve taught so far have been in that age range. Were you always intending to teach?”

He shook his head. “When I got my degree, I mostly did research, but I like the stability of teaching. Well, that, and the benefits.”

“You don’t seem to struggle financially,” she pointed out. 

“Well, no. I suppose a major part of it is the fact that I need  _ something  _ to do.”

“You’re not a people person.”

Five shrugged. “But I do struggle when I’m all alone. There was this point in my career when I didn’t interact with other people much at all, and I barely took care of myself.”

“That’s hard to imagine. You seem like you could take or leave people.”

“I’m sure I would have thought that way years ago, but I  _ like  _ my job now.” 

“Even the part where you interact with students?”

“Of course. Every once in a while, there will be some who even have a lot of potential. Like you.”

“I feel like you’re just saying that.”

“No, you really do. Though I don’t see you wanting to change majors if you have an attachment to this one, which I’m perfectly fine with, but it’s always exciting to see.”

“Don’t you worry that if I switch majors that you’d get me again?”

Five raised his brows. “I do not worry about that, no. You’d likely learn from my colleagues, but you would be able to tell if I was teaching a class, for sure. For the most part, I teach grad students, anyways.”

She grinned. “You think I wouldn’t make it to grad school but you’re trying to get me to switch careers?”

“Oh, no, I just meant—”

“You’re fine,” she told him quickly, realizing that she’d made him panic and forcing down laughter. “Though I’ve got to go, actually, so I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, of course…” He opened his mouth as she started setting her supplies into her bag before closing it for a few moments. She waited patiently for him to speak, figuring that he would be able to manage before she left him, but he took his time. Just as she was starting to stand up, he asked, “Do you… Are you busy at all?”

Her mother’s voice was in her mind, telling her to get him to approach her. She was pretty sure she was telling her to play hard-to-get. Not that she should take advice from her mother, but, then again, she was a successful surgeon. Some people contained multitudes, and, really, why  _ shouldn’t  _ she take advice from her?

“I am.” 

“Right, yeah, of course.” He rocked back on his heels. “Um, it’s a little late, do you want me to walk you to your car?”

“I don’t have a car, so that won’t be necessary.”

A displeased noise left his throat. “Have you just been walking to class?”

“Yeah, but I don’t live  _ that  _ far away.”

Five shook his head. “Nope. I’m driving you home.” 

“What?” This was not how she’d expected him to react to this information. Otherwise, she would have lied. It was upsetting, that she wasn’t even trying, and she was likely getting much better results than if she  _ was.  _ Vanya was almost willing to completely disregard her mother’s advice, but she also knew that she had to do  _ something.  _ If she didn’t, she’d feel like he would be slipping through her grasp, that she’d have nothing to distract herself with while she waited. “Five, you don’t have to drive me, you know. I can walk home. I’ve been doing it before.”

“It’s  _ not  _ a big deal, and I’m not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. Unless you’d like me to call you a driver instead, and you assured me that you weren’t just walking  _ alone.” _

“What if I walked with somebody else?”

He narrowed his eyes. “If you find somebody to walk with you, then, yes, that’s fine.”

Vanya couldn’t help it. The commanding tone was much more exciting than anything else she’d experienced this week, and she figured that he was serious when he’d said that he wouldn’t let her refuse. Plus, if she took up his offer on sending a driver to take her to her place, she was pretty sure that he would keep doing that in the future, until she had somebody that she could carpool with, and she would feel a little bit guilty for it. It would be much easier to refuse, too, if she didn’t think that he was offering out of a place of concern. 

“Just one ride,” she told him, even though she knew it likely wouldn’t be. Part of her considered just graduating later, considering the fact that she was pretty certain that there was no way at all that they’d manage to keep their hands off each other until the end of the semester came. Even though  _ she  _ wanted that, she knew that Five would feel awful for it, and she didn’t want to upset him when she was starting to think he was a lot kinder than he let on. When she was starting to really like him. 

There was something holding her back from just dropping the class, though, now. If Five seriously thought she had potential, she didn’t want to throw away the work that she’d put in so far. Also, it wasn’t like the school was going to stop requiring that she take this class. There was no reason at all that she shouldn’t graduate on time, especially when she was sure that she could manage to get, at the very least, a C in this class. 

“It really doesn’t bother me to drive you, you know.” Five slung his bag over his shoulder, turning the lights out in the classroom as they walked out. “I don’t mind helping you, if you need it. Especially when you’re putting yourself in danger, walking alone at night.”

“It’s not  _ that  _ dangerous. I live in a relatively okay neighborhood.”

Vanya got the idea that he was resisting the urge to grouch under his breath, based on the way his brow was furrowing and he was biting his lip. 

“Why are you acting so grumpy?”

“I’m not  _ grumpy,  _ but you should have told me earlier that you were just walking home alone. Christ, Vanya, do you even have anybody that knows to check on you that you got home safe?”

“Well, no, because I’m not seven years old.”

He glowered at her. “Unbelievable. You’re letting me drive you until you find somebody else to do so, and I  _ refuse  _ to hear any complaints from you.”

She could tell that he was actually upset that she was walking home alone, and she felt the urge to distract him, to make him feel better even though he was acting absurd. Voice quiet, she teased, “Why are you ordering me around if you  _ don’t  _ intend for me to call you ‘Daddy’?”

Five sighed exasperatedly, but she could tell that he was resisting the urge to laugh at her comment. “You’re on thin ice.”

“That is  _ not  _ helping me be less aroused.”

“Well, you deserve to suffer a little, don’t you?”

“Are you trying to tell me that you’re  _ punishing  _ me for walking home alone?” Even though she was having so many conflicting emotions about all of this, it felt  _ nice  _ to tease him a little. She could feel the restlessness that had been coursing through her since the beginning of this semester stifle just the slightest bit, and she couldn’t feel guilty for that. “Not even an exciting punishment, either. If you were spanking me for it, I’d make the worst decisions imaginable.”

“Oh,  _ stop.”  _ He did laugh then, crossing his arms over her chest, like he was clamping down on the urge to touch her. She offered him a quick smile, wondering if it was inappropriate to hug him and thank him for giving her a ride. Maybe when she was getting out of his car. There wouldn’t be anybody to witness it. “So, where is your  _ relatively  _ okay neighborhood?”

She gave him her address, and he groaned. 

“I’m afraid if I tell you about my neighbors you’ll force me to move in with you.”

“You’re not afraid of that at all. Don’t lie.”

“Okay, yeah, you’re right.” She was aware that this was probably the fastest paced relationship she’d ever been, but she also figured it was normal, given the fact that he was at an age that settling down made sense. Really, she could see it pretty easily for herself as well, and she was just in her late twenties. “Though I think if I lived at your place, you wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to fuck me.”

“I’m struggling already,” he admitted, and she laughed, touching his arm quickly before pulling it away, aware that she couldn’t do what she was thinking here. That he wouldn’t want her to do it in general, or at least he would try to convince himself that he didn’t want it. She wondered how long he would manage to keep doing the right thing. “Though I probably shouldn’t say that, huh?”

“You shouldn’t if you don’t want me to pounce on you.”

He groaned. “Do you know how much my self-control is being tested when I’m with you?”

“If you’d like, I could make it easy for you.”

“How’s that?” She hadn’t even realized that they’d gotten to the parking lot until he was opening the passenger door of his car for her. “And,  _ please,  _ do not spare me any details.”

“Need some new material for your spank bank?” Climbing into his car, she noted that it smelled like the aftershave he wore, wondering if she would look like a weirdo if she started sniffing the air. Maybe he’d let her keep one of his shirts if she asked nicely enough. “I’m willing to just talk you through it the next time you jerk off if you’d like.”

“How generous of you,” he quipped, backing up out of his parking spot. “Though I am  _ pretty  _ sure you might just start slipping in questions about class in order to get your desired Pavlovian responses out of me.”

“That would be so fun,” she mused, noticing when he set his hand on top of the center console, palm up. Watching his eyes as her hand hover over his, wondering how he would react, she gently covered his hand, lacing their fingers together. “If you’d like, I could just talk to you about my homework to get you to cool down afterwards. To get you out of the mindset, you know.”

“Right. Pillow talk.” He squeezed her hand, and she leaned forward a little to kiss the back of his hand, taking note of the bluish veins popping out against his skin, brushing her fingers over them as she pulled away from him. His heart was pounding, and she knew that they were just on that line, just seconds from crossing it. 

And, God, did she want to. 

Five made a turn, and she asked softly, needing to know the answer and hoping that he could give it to her, “Is what I’m feeling right now  _ wrong?” _

His eyes kept paying attention to the road, but she could see the pain residing within them. “If it is, I can’t judge you,” he told her, brows furrowing. “Because I’m feeling it too.”

* * *

“Do you think that I could convince Dr. Hargreeves to postpone this test?” Klaus asked, flipping through the highlighted portions of his textbook while he made distressed noises. “Because I don’t understand  _ any  _ of this.”

Vanya was about to tell him that it wasn’t that hard and explain it all to him, but Diego asked, lifting his eyes from the flashcards he hadn’t been paying attention to this entire time, “How would you convince him, do you think?”

“Probably just bend over a little.”

Ben snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“Listen, he gives me some serious bi vibes, and we already know he sleeps with students.”

She nearly dropped her water bottle, a distressed noise trying to force its way out of her throat but being stifled just enough that nobody would pay her any attention. 

“Really?” Diego asked, raising his brows. “He didn’t take me for a perv. Though, yeah, I  _ do _ absolutely see the bi thing.”

“I’m pretty sure he does. Heard a story about him taking this student home. Guy or gal, though, I have no idea.” 

Ben rolled his eyes. “Likely just a stupid rumor. He’s too much of a dick to his students,  _ all  _ of his students, to be sleeping with them.”

“What do you want to bet it was somebody trying to snag an A?” Diego set down his flashcards, apparently realizing that he wasn’t going to use them. “I would suck a little dick if it meant helping my GPA, honestly, and I wouldn’t say he’s unattractive.”

“Maybe if you paid attention in class you wouldn’t have to suck  _ any  _ dicks,” Vanya quipped, scooping up the index cards and reading over them, mentally preparing herself to test Diego and Klaus, something that took years off her life every time. However, she couldn’t help but ask, “You think it’s a pattern of behavior for him?”

Because if it was… 

No. There was no way. He wasn’t like that. 

A small voice in her mind whispered,  _ ‘But you barely know him at all, do you?’ _

“Well, yeah, if he’s willing to do it with one student, I would bet he’d do it with any other,” Klaus laughed. “Which is why I’m pretty sure that I can get us out of this test, so you’re  _ all _ welcome in advance.”

“I don’t think he’s sleeping with students,” Ben said. “He doesn’t strike me as a creep.”

“It’s not like he’s a high school teacher,” Diego said. “If it’s between consenting adults  _ and _ it helps me pass this class, I’m all for anybody sucking his dick. Though Vanya has a point about me studying.” He turned to her, raising his brows. “Test me now.”

She smiled, even though she was struggling not to cry, woodenly flipping through all of the cards until Klaus and Diego were confidently giving her correct answers.

* * *

Vanya wasn’t sure how she made it through the test the next week, but she managed, even confident that she had gotten most of the answers right. She had studied a  _ lot  _ after all. When she set her test on his desk, stumbling out the door, she could feel his eyes following her. It wasn’t even surprising to her that he chased after her, closing the door quietly behind him and staring at her in confusion. 

“I still plan to drive you home, you know—”

“How many students have you slept with?” she blurted, feeling like she was about to start crying, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him, trying to make her expression as frosty as she could. Though she was aware that it wasn’t all that convincing, and she knew that any second the tears would spill over, wanting to get away from him before they did. However, she  _ had  _ to know the answer to this, and, considering she’d already confronted him (despite the fact that she had been wanting to wait until she’d had a little bit of time to cool down), she had to hear the truth.

Five opened his mouth, looking horrified with what she was suggesting. He was a good actor, she supposed. Maybe he’d been acting for the entirety of the time they’d been around one another. Even if he hadn’t known the first time they’d fucked, he’d known any of the times that came after. Perhaps he got off on it even more to know that she hadn’t realized he was her professor the first time, that she would begin to obsess over him almost immediately after meeting him. 

Finally, he asked,  _ “What  _ have I done… to make you  _ possibly  _ think that I—”

“How many people, Five?” And then she was crying, shaking and wanting to get away from him, feeling like such an idiot. 

Even then, a part of her wanted to ask him to comfort her. 

“It’s only ever been you, Vanya.” He didn’t reach to touch her, though she could tell that he was resisting the urge to do so. “I  _ promise _ you.”

“Why did Klaus tell me you took a student home, then?” she whimpered, crossing her arms over her chest.

Five stepped forward, eyes imploring. “Because it means that somebody saw  _ you  _ being taken home.”

“Oh, god,” she gasped, somehow feeling even worse. “Five, I—”

“If you thought that I was like that, why would you want to be around me?” he spat, and she could tell that his initial shock had worn off, that he was just pissed now. “Did you care about your grades enough to let somebody…” He shook his head, eyes flashing. “I can’t believe that you thought that about me.”

“I didn’t think that, I was just…” She couldn’t stop crying, and it only made it worse, feeling humiliated. Backing away, she told him, “I’ll just go.”

His jaw clenched, nostrils flaring, but before she could get away from him, he sighed, loudly, and told her, “Don’t go. Wait wherever you want, but I’m taking you home as soon as the last test is finished.”

“But you’re—”

“Not going to let you walk home alone when you’re this upset, nor am I going to let you put yourself in danger just because I’m pissed off at you.”

Voice sounding small to her own ears, she said, “It’s not really dangerous for me to…”

Five’s eyes softened. “Just wait a bit, Vanya. Okay? Try to c…” He set his hands on her shoulders, glancing warily at the doorway but not letting go, voice gentle, “I’m sorry. You were right to be upset, if that was concerning you. Just please let me know that you’ll tell me if I make you uncomfortable, okay? Because I don’t want you to  _ ever  _ think that… that I would…” 

It finally occurred to her  _ why  _ he was upset, that it was for the same reason that he’d been upset about her walking home alone. Even though she could tell that she pissed him off by suggesting what she had, he was  _ upset  _ because he’d grown protective of her, in this short period of time that they’d known one another. That he couldn’t handle the thought of her being scared or upset and not telling him. 

Her breathing had steadied by the time he said, “I wouldn’t ever try to hurt you, Vanya. Please believe me.”

“I didn’t think that you would,” she admitted, leaning against his chest, aware that she wasn’t supposed to but needing the comfort. When his arms wrapped around her, her body began to relax as well. “It was just really… I mean, I probably should have figured out what he was saying, and that was a little stupid of me—”

“It’s not stupid,” he promised, squeezing her torso a little. “You were right to worry.”

“You’re going to have to go back in there, aren’t you?”

“I am, V.” He didn’t sound happy about it. “But we can talk about this when I drive you home.”

“Are you really going to keep driving me home when somebody caught us?”

Five shrugged. “I’m driving you home to make sure that you get home safe. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it _would_ be wrong to just stop because it looks suspicious.”

“Well, that and you’re overprotective of me, apparently.”

“That too,” he agreed. “You’ll just have to wait an hour. Tops. Is that okay?”

“It is.”

She did  _ not  _ want to pull away from him, but she could tell that he wasn’t going to move away before her. When she stepped out of his arms, she could tell that he was tempted to hug her again, but he only said, “We’ll talk in a little bit.”

Vanya walked over to the nearest place to sit, a line of couches near some vending machines. Nobody else left the classroom for another fifteen minutes, but then people were steadily leaving every few minutes. The last person to walk out was Ben, who padded over to her when he caught sight of her. 

“Was the test super difficult for you?” he asked sympathetically, sitting down beside her, gesturing to her red face and swollen eyes. “You seemed so prepared when we were studying, so I figured when you left almost immediately that it was because you had just flown through it.”

It was sweet of him to be concerned for her. “The test was fine. I just have a few… things that are going on in my life right now. Outside of school.”

“Oh, man, that’s awful. I’m sorry. Is there anything that I can do to help?”

Five had stepped out of his classroom, she realized, sensing him in her periphery. It occurred to her that he was watching them, and she did her best to stay nonchalant, not wanting to look guilty. 

Though she didn’t know why she was even concerned. It wasn’t like they were together or anything. 

“I don’t think so, Ben, but it’s really sweet of you to offer.” 

“Of course.” He hugged her quickly. “We’re friends, you know, so I just want you to know that I’m here for you.”

“Thank you, Ben.” She smiled at him. “You’re really kind.”

He laughed. “I’m going home right now because I have work pretty early in the morning, but if you wanted to get a drink or…?”

She shook her head. “We can hang out sometime soon, but I don’t want you to get home later than you intended. Plus, I have a friend driving me home, and I’m sure they’re already here, by this point.”

“For sure.” He gave her a quick, sweet grin. “I’ll see you soon, Vanya.”

“Actually,” she said, before she could think better of it, just wanting to make sure that Ben knew that she was grateful for him and his friendship. “Do you think you could spend time together tomorrow? After you get off work? I could use a drink.”

“Yeah, of course.” 

He pulled out a planner that he kept with him at all times, seemingly the sensible one in his group of friends. They weren’t quite her age, she knew, but they were older than most of the students in their class. For that reason, they were also the only ones that she could drink with, so she was hoping that maybe she could develop a friendship with all of them, one that would actually last, imagining that maybe spending time with them regularly would get her to that point. Though Vanya was old enough that the social aspect of college didn’t necessarily appeal to her, she  _ did  _ like the concept of having a few friends, feeling like she was missing something without having ever been able to keep any. 

Plus, Ben was  _ sweet,  _ and he was the kind of person that she should be spending her time with, rather than spending it completely alone. 

“Where were you thinking we would go?” he asked, flipping to the right date. 

She wasn’t thinking when she blurted out the bar that she and Five had met at, and she hoped that he wasn’t listening in too closely, figuring that he would assume that she was trying to make him jealous. 

Vanya  _ wasn’t.  _

Not right  _ now,  _ at least. 

“Okay, great. Do you want me to pick you up, then?”

“Sure.” He’d picked her up for study groups already, so he already knew her address. “Thank you, Ben.”

“No problem, Vanya. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Hugging him again, she responded, “See you tomorrow.” 

Ben smiled at her one last time before he walked to his car. She was pretty sure that he likely would’ve been driving her, too, if he’d know that she walked home alone. Though he knew that she didn’t have a car, she’d lied and said that her friend drove her the first time he’d offered her a ride, and he hadn’t questioned it. In fact, she was just the slightest bit grateful that he hadn’t made the connection between Five driving a student home and her not having a car. 

When he was gone, Vanya thought of the justification Five had had for still planning on driving her, that there was nothing wrong with the action and that there was nothing to feel guilty about with it. She was aware  _ why  _ she was thinking that way, and it wasn’t that she was guilty for accepting a ride from Five. 

There wasn’t anything wrong with wanting to be Ben’s friend, though, so she stood up and walked to Five, who had been waiting for almost the entirety of her and Ben’s conversation. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I’ll try to update this one soon, since I know a lot of people enjoy it! 💕💕

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for those who made it to the end!!! 🤝 I’ll write more to this for sure, but how many chapters it ends up being idk yet.


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